--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Artists don't often know much about…" description: "\"Artists don't often know much about writing... but they don't bray so much about writing as writers do about art.\" — Matthew Collings" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png" --- # Artists don't often know much about writing... but they… ![“Artists don't often know much about writing... but they don't bray so much about writing as writers do about art.” quote by Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png) > “Artists don't often know much about writing... but they don't bray so much about writing as writers do about art.” [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists and writers differ in focus; writers obsess over art while artists are less concerned with writing. **In simple terms:** Artists care less about writing. Key Takeaway Recognize different creative priorities. Themes creativity discipline art vs writing Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - art exhibitions - writing workshops - cross‑disciplinary projects Key Concepts aesthetic theory creative process Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance multiple creative pursuits? - When does specialization help? A Different Perspective May oversimplify individual experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Know Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-writing/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) [Writers Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-art-967278/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-writers-1420920/) ## Related quotes > [I definitely have loads of respect for writers and the art of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-shannon/i-definitely-have-loads-of-respect-for-writers-and-the-art-of-writing/) [Molly Shannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-shannon/) > [Many attempts have been made by writers on art and poetry to define beauty in the abstract, to express it in the most general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/many-attempts-have-been-made-by-writers-on-art-and-poetry-to-define/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [There are very few good writers about art, and you either get art-fashion writing with trendy views or you get very traditional writing. Occasionally,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-quinn/there-are-very-few-good-writers-about-art-and-you-either-get-art/) [Marc Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-quinn/) > [An editor is a person who knows more about writing than writers do but who has escaped the terrible desire to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-editor-is-a-person-who-knows-more-about-writing-than-writers-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As soon as I started writing, other writers stopped wanting me acting in their shows - maybe they thought I was going to rewrite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-fierstein/as-soon-as-i-started-writing-other-writers-stopped-wanting-me-acting/) [Harvey Fierstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-fierstein/) > [“I think most writers … write about episodes meaningful to them in terms of their own imaginations. Now that would include a great deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/i-think-most-writers-write-about-episodes-meaningful-to-them-in-terms/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [I believe - I know (there are not many things I should care to dogmatize about, on the subject of writing) that writers need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-believe-i-know-there-are-not-many-things-i-should-care-to-dogmatize/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Yes, I know what you mean about writing and writers. We seem to have lost the target. Writers seem to write to be known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/yes-i-know-what-you-mean-about-writing-and-writers-we-seem-to-have/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [While writing, writers are living inside a character or characters, and when the book ekes into the world, writers are living inside the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-groff/while-writing-writers-are-living-inside-a-character-or-characters-and/) [Lauren Groff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-groff/) > [“I write from the heart and do not edit and edit ... my works (music or writing). Although most writers do, and as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexzander-beck/i-write-from-the-heart-and-do-not-edit-and-edit-my-works-music-or/) [Alexzander Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexzander-beck/) > [I have a hard time writing. Most writers have a hard time writing. I have a harder time than most because I'm lazier than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-lebowitz/i-have-a-hard-time-writing-most-writers-have-a-hard-time-writing-i/) [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) > [To me, writing is about how we see. The writers I want to read teach me how to see-see the world differently. In my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/to-me-writing-is-about-how-we-see-the-writers-i-want-to-read-teach-me/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“(on teaching writing) So many writers come to class with one question dominant in their mind, 'How do I make a living from this?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-kiernan/on-teaching-writing-so-many-writers-come-to-class-with-one-question/) [Celine Kiernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-kiernan/) > [I don't know about writing. It's quite lonely. You have to have a lot of patience with yourself. I don't know if I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-wilson/i-don-t-know-about-writing-it-s-quite-lonely-you-have-to-have-a-lot/) [Ruth Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-wilson/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. That's really the only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mazin/if-i-don-t-know-who-i-m-writing-for-i-make-it-up-and-pick-somebody-i/) [Craig Mazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mazin/) ## More by Matthew Collings > [Until the late 1970s there'd either be only black or white in the paintings or if there were colours it would be a small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/until-the-late-1970s-there-d-either-be-only-black-or-white-in-the/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [The whole idea of ideas in art is useless. Only have ideas about form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/the-whole-idea-of-ideas-in-art-is-useless-only-have-ideas-about-form/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [Colour can be the true main thing in art that is widely valued – even valued by the maker of the art – for other meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/colour-can-be-the-true-main-thing-in-art-that-is-widely-valued-even/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [The most painful thing for me is to be misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/the-most-painful-thing-for-me-is-to-be-misunderstood/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [It was as if he (Sigmar Polke) painted his imagery in a highly wrought way, instead of a calculatedly dumb way, or mechanical way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/it-was-as-if-he-sigmar-polke-painted-his-imagery-in-a-highly-wrought/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [What is painting today? It's a discontinued thing, discontinued from anything serious that happened in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/what-is-painting-today-it-s-a-discontinued-thing-discontinued-from/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [Without rules you can't have anything, but you don't want to just be pedantic or obsessive. The painting is finished when it's working. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/without-rules-you-can-t-have-anything-but-you-don-t-want-to-just-be/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [Art has knowledge and skills, and to come to know them is to be implicitly against a culture that is against knowledge - today's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/art-has-knowledge-and-skills-and-to-come-to-know-them-is-to-be/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [The art world is now a slave of mass culture. We have a sound-bite culture and so we have sound-bite art. You look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/the-art-world-is-now-a-slave-of-mass-culture-we-have-a-sound-bite/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) > [I think with art you have to do a bit of transforming of the subject to make the art worth having.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/i-think-with-art-you-have-to-do-a-bit-of-transforming-of-the-subject/) [Matthew Collings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) [Explore all 11 Matthew Collings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Artists don't often know much about writing... but they don't bray so much about writing as writers do about art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Collings" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writing-but-they-don-t-bray-so/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writing-but-they-don-t-bray-so/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/matthew-collings-39650_art_artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writ_2752776.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Artists don't often know much about writing... but they don't bray so much about writing as writers do about…” — Matthew Collings", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Matthew Collings", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-collings/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Artists don't often know much about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writing-but-they-don-t-bray-so/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-collings/artists-don-t-often-know-much-about-writing-but-they-don-t-bray-so/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```